To be a top commercial real estate property manager you need to have solid market knowledge but you also need a comprehensive set of personal skills to match the needs of the property and the clients that you work for.

Many managers will graduate from ‘residential’ property, and move into ‘commercial’ property as part of growing and expanding their career. Whilst the idea is good, there are many factors and issues involved in changing property type. Commercial property is very different and much more complex than residential property; the knowledge base required of a person providing management services is far more extensive.

I do not want to scare you away from commercial property management as a career; but I do want you to respect the skills and knowledge that you will need in the role. The fee for managing a commercial property is substantial, but with that comes the requirement for personal skill and property control on the part of the manager and the agency.

In talking about this, I am not at this time specifically bringing into the discussion retail property. Retail shopping centre management is even more complex than commercial management. The fees in retail property are for this reason generally higher than that which applies to managing commercial property.

Here are some other main skills required of the property manager in performing their daily and weekly duties.

Negotiation skills will always feature as part of the job specification. Negotiations will be diverse across many different situations including property leasing, contracts and negotiations, maintenance contractor’s, tenants, solicitors, accountants, and landlords. The commercial property manager needs to have professional skills and suitable training when it comes to these diverse negotiation requirements.

Leasing situations will arise continually from the managed properties. The larger the portfolio, the more frequent the leasing requirement. In my opinion the property manager should be well skilled in leasing structures and or leasing negotiations. In this way they can help the landlords that they act for as part of selecting a new tenants for the managed investment property.

Lease documentation will vary greatly from property to property. This then says that the property manager needs to understand the differences in leases, how to bring them about, and how to interpret them. Rent reviews, rental structures, maintenance, option terms, refurbishment requirements, and tenant covenants are all unique situations that require specialist review with each and every lease in a managed portfolio. Critical dates will arise from every lease document as part of the management process. Many an inexperienced property manager has overlooked critical dates in the leases only to find that the landlords position has weakened considerably as a direct result.

Income and expenditure analysis will occur throughout the financial year for a managed property. The income needs to be optimized, and the expenditure needs to be suitably controlled. The difference between the two is the net income and that will have a direct impact on the value of the property for the landlord. It is the property managers duty to ensure that the best outcome is achieved given the prevailing market conditions.

Tenant communications should be well maintained throughout the year. When tenants are overlooked or ignored by the property manager, relationships soon sour, hence this exposes the property to unstable rental and or vacancy factors. Keep in contact with all tenants on a regular basis. Record all communications in writing so that the necessary evidence is available if any lease situation becomes the subject of a dispute.

Landlord reporting and controls will be unique to the particular landlord. Whilst most agencies have some form of income and expenditure controls and specific reporting processes, it is up to the property manager to interpret the reports and provide the necessary recommendations. Every monthly report produced for the managed property should be carefully checked as part of the month end process.

Maintenance controls will involve essential services and maintenance contractors. The age of the property will have some impact on the strategies behind repairs and maintenance. The complexity of the property and the tenancy mix will also have impact on the maintenance activity. Every lease should allow for the permitted use relating to the tenancy. Maintenance may be part of that process and certain maintenance costs may be applied to the tenant or the landlord depending on the particular lease situations. I go back to the point that each lease needs to be fully understood by the property manager.

Property performance is achieved through a fine balance of all of the above issues. That is why special skills and knowledge are part of the job specification for a commercial property manager.

If you are the owner of commercial property, you may be interested in looking into hiring a commercial real estate management company. There are many reasons to turn to the professionals to handle the management of your commercial property. A few of those reasons are listed below:

Commercial property management can make the stress of owning a property disappear

Sometimes, investors are reluctant to become landlords or to own investment properties because they feel that the task of renting and managing a property will be too time consuming. You may have visions of late-night calls due to emergencies or of spending your days showing the property to perspective tenants or dealing with tenant complaints.

When you trust a commercial management company, you don’t have to worry about any of these issues. The property management professionals that you hire can handle all of the day-to-day tasks and obligations involved in renting and maintaining a commercial real estate. Not only that, but if you develop an ongoing long-term relationship with the property management company, the managers can get to know your building and tenants and can make recommendations to you on improvements or operating policies.

Commercial property management can help to keep your tenants happy

Many tenants, especially in commercial buildings, like to know that they have an expert available to help them with issues. Rather than dealing with an inexperienced landlord or with a landlord working on his own, those renting commercial real estate like to have a professional available as a manager. Commercial real estate management companies can get to know your tenants and can handle any issues or concerns, keeping things running smoothly at all times.

When you place your trust in a commercial Real estate management company, they may be able to provide important device on keeping your investment profitable. This may include suggesting improvements to the property or changes to the lease agreement or rental terms that will allow you to better maximize your profits. Your commercial management company can also keep you up-to-date on the financial situation of your rental property so you will know at a glance what the numbers look like and whether you are making a good profit on your real estate investment.

Commercial property management companies can help to keep your rental space in good shape

By handling emergency situations quickly, commercial property management companies can help to ensure repairs are done before any damage to the building occurs. Further, commercial real estate management professionals can keep an eye on what is going on in the building on an ongoing basis, suggesting repairs or maintenance that will prevent problems from developing. It is a good idea to keep your building maintained at all times and it is helpful to have experts advising you on what needs to be done.

Hiring a Commercial Property Management Company

Hiring a commercial property management company is important for all of these reasons. The bottom line is, when you have a commercial property, it can be a great investment- but only if it is managed well. Put your trust in the experts to ensure that your investment pays off.

Investing in commercial property can involve investing in multi-family real estate or in buildings that are rented out for business and industrial purposes. Commercial rental property encompasses everything from a rental house to a huge apartment building to a large industrial warehouse or office building. Any time you own a property as an investment that you do not live in and that you intend to make money renting out, this property can be viewed as a commercial property.

If you are the owner of a commercial property, you will need to understand commercial property management. Managing your property effectively is the key to making your investment pay off. Managing your property well while help you to get and keep tenants and will help you to improve your property value so you can benefit from property appreciation.

Understanding Commercial Property Management

When most people think of commercial property management, the focus is on tenant relations. This is, in fact, a key part of commercial property management. After all, you need to have tenants so you don’t have a vacant property that costs you money to operate but that doesn’t bring cash in. You need to keep your tenants happy so that they will want to stay, and you’ll need to make sure that the tenants follow the rules of the lease so they don’t do damage to your property or annoy other renters. You’ll need to respond to tenant complaints, make repairs as needed if there are problems that impact your tenants, and ensure that you are regularly collecting rent. If a tenant leaves, you’ll also need to find a new tenant to take his or her place so you do not lose your rental income.

While tenant management is the cornerstone of property management, it is not the only important aspect of commercial property management. You also need to take care of the building itself in order to make sure that your property doesn’t become run down and to make sure that it keeps pace with competitor spaces so that you can remain attractive to tenants.

This means that a part of commercial property management is doing ongoing maintenance and periodically upgrading your space. You don’t want to let problems go until they develop into big issues and you don’t want to defer maintenance until you have problems. Instead, you will want to make sure that you are always keeping up to date with the important systems and infrastructure in your building. If the systems need servicing, for example, you’ll want to have the servicing performed to keep everything operating well. The upgrades you will want to make should be done in keeping with what other similar apartments or commercial buildings are doing in your area.

Finally, the last part of property management centers on budgeting. This includes establishing an operating budget, setting rents and making sure that you have positive cash flow so that your commercial property can prove to be a good investment that brings income to you on an ongoing basis.